Zephyr
by Twisted Eternal Wolvetta
Summary: "I can only hope Natsuki will forgive me."


" _We had met in the garden back in Guadeloupe. If I recall, it had been a summer's day during nightfall. It truly did remind me of Natsuki, and perhaps such a thing was my downfall."_

Overwhelmed. The definition was out of the question for what Shizuru truly felt. Alone in the Black Valley, without another soul in sight, she felt overbearing emotions. They flooded her senses, and almost put her into an anxious daze. Yet at the same time, she felt nothing but numbness. Upon all sides she was greeted by heat waves in the distance. They broadcasted the true temperatures which cascaded across this ruined desert. It was far too hot- distractingly so, in fact. But this wasn't a difficulty she took mind to. Instead, her heart leapt, and she continued to stare into the distance.

" _Although we had become friends, there had been an undeniable distance set between us. At the time I had always wondered what it had been. Had it perhaps been my fault? Had I done something to displease Natsuki? Or maybe she simply didn't take a liking to me?"_

"Archmeister, the enemy is incoming." It didn't matter for who warned her. It was an unknown face behind the intercom of a GEM. An unneeded detail- sure enough, their enemy ventured into sight. From behind the haze of heat waves, the towering otome platforms wavered.

Perhaps this day was fitting? After all, this battle would persist for the remainder of the day. By the end, nightfall would've long fallen. That is, if she survived that long. It was questionable to say whether this would be the case. Given her current situation, she would give a weak 50/50 bet. But even so…! Her one wish was to find a certain otome in the midst of this battlefield.

" _For all my pondering during my juvenile years, I had been wrong about only one thing. This had been Natsuki. In reality, perhaps this wasn't all that shocking. During this time I had a misguided judgement. I had thought Natsuki to be a mere fan- a simplistic plaything in kin to a doll. But of course, with her snarky attitude at the time, I was soon put in my place. Maybe this was ironic?"_

With orders commended, and the platforms for their allies brought forward, Shizuru exhaled. Positioned atop one of these structures, she observed the battlefield placed before her. In the distance she saw them- their enemies. Yet not even once did she feel fear. Instead, she felt a twinge of sadness. It was a bittersweet sensation which melted her mind, and Shizuru was sure many would perish. Between both sides, this was their last stand. She couldn't deny this, and neither could the enemy.

"N _obody had ever spoken to me in this way. It had been such a performance! In the middle of the pearl classroom, she had declared her dislike for my behaviour. Maybe I myself hadn't been as shocked as our peers either. Natsuki had nonetheless held her ground against me. But either way, the detail had been long forgotten by our classmates."_

"Ranged otome, flank them on both sides, and on the forefront." Shizuru murmured into her GEM. Fully materialised, and stood within the centre of the platform, Shizuru's eyes strayed. With her fingertips brushing from her intercom, she stared at the lone structure beside her.

It was empty of an otome- the Gakuenchou.

Obviously it would be.

" _Such was life in a boarding school for teenage girls. A memory could last a moment, or become alike to a ghost. For such phantom memories, I truly cherished them. Even so however, my chest wrecked with regret; and a swallowful disappointment swarmed me. My heart was broken, and I couldn't do a thing to heal it."_

"Remaining columns, stay in standby." With a spiking anxiety, and depression hitting Shizuru's mind, she stared at the platform. Alike narrative, she recounted hidden memories. They were both tender, and disheartening. These were precious to her soul. But they were also her cursed oxymoron. For although she truly loved their diverse themes, they were sorrowful.

Alike to how a battlefield is painted in red, nature is soon to follow. But how could such a rule take over within the Black Valley? Through the Harmonium, the desert was void by nothing but monsters which fed upon one another. Who was the monster, however? After all, it was humans who coated this land in their own lifeblood alike to warpaint. Truly, how could humans be such a heartless species of intellectuals? They were hellbent on death, and destruction; and at that moment, Shizuru realised… This was the precise reason why Natsuki had been murdered. Because she had wanted the bloodshed to end- because she initiated the decreasing of otome.

" _I had failed Natsuki. As the Archmeister, I had broken my duty, and allowed the Gakuenchou- my partner, to die."_

" _In what name is a partner? She was my comrade, column, best friend, soulmate. My lover. Yet like sand sliding between my fingertips, they had oozed with blood. Her blood. In such a reality where everything hangs in the balance, how had I survived? For these two long years, not a moment had passed where I hadn't missed her._

"Archmeister?!" Derailed harshly from her train of thought, Shizuru's gaze locked to the battlefield. It was an absolute warzone of chaos, and ruin. Before her, she watched as families were forever severed from one another. The feeling didn't register as childhood friends were destroyed, and tossed away like dolls. This was her life, yet she wasn't aware of it.

These memories of their battle would live for only a few generations. They would become a ghostly remembrance with a distant touch. They knew this war was suicidal. Not a soul would escape from that of a phantom consumed in its chaotic nature. But this didn't stop the human spirit from relentlessly fighting.

" _We are otome. Or were. What are we? As soldiers we fight for one purpose. This being either personal, for our country, master, family. For some, even for money. But nobody knew the answer anymore. With this suicidal battle, this was perhaps a means of unthreading our fate."_

" _With a dignity still intact, we would end Guadeloupe, but if we could help it, without regrets. Mine was simplistic. It was revenge."_

Shizuru's eyes widened as she regarded the otome surrounding her. They fell alike to dying birds within the sky. Caught in a net, they were captured for eternity. Nobody, not even they themselves acknowledged the otome. They were a dying breed; and one which would destroy themselves.

Suddenly their humanity unveiled itself much more clearly.

" _In the end, for who it was, it didn't matter. Here we were at the end of the road, and there was no room to make a U Turn. So instead, with all my ability, I will fight until the very end._ _This is what I had promised Natsuki. I know she didn't like it at the time, but I simply couldn't help myself. I will only join her once knowing my last mission as an otome has been completed."_

Staggering into action, Shizuru's mind unconsciously forced her legs to work. Though weakened with the meltdown of tension, Shizuru continued. It was only until her foot hit the air, that she reacted. Alike to kicking off the side of a pool's wall in water, she floated within the sky. Paying mind to the buzzing of her intercom, she switched it off swiftly.

Her otome were perishing. With a soft breeze which blew across the hazy atmosphere, blood, and shimmering emerald merged. This was their last moment, and their final regret.

" _For an otome's death, it is customary by tradition to erect a transparent memorial. We, the last otome don't have one. Instead, the Black Valley itself is our shared grave, and Guadeloupe is our ruin."_

" _I can only hope Natsuki will forgive me."_

 **End.**

* * *

This always seems to happen when I listen to Schwarzwald's Touhou arranges; particularly Quantum Vacuum Ocean, and Vampire Illusion. Why character death breaks me out of my writer's block, I'll never know.


End file.
